(4422) Jarre
Minor planet number 4422 has been named in honor of the French electronic composer, Jean Michel Jarre.The citation announcing the naming appeared on Minor Planet Circular 17031 (issued on 1990 Oct. 4), from which the following is extracted with permission:
(4422) Jarre = 1942 UA
Discovered 1942 Oct. 17 by L. Boyer at Algiers.
Named in honor of the French composers Maurice (1924- ) and
Jean-Michel Jarre (1949- ). Maurice studied composition at the Paris
conservatoire, and wrote serial music for concert works and boldly dramatic
theatre music, before turning to film music, winning Oscars for his score
to 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1963) and for 'Lara's Theme' from 'Doctor Zhivago'
(1965). Jean-Michel abandoned his musical studies at the Conservatoire de
Paris in 1967 to experiment with electronic music. His first commercial
success was 'Oxygene' (1977). Further successful recordings followed, and
in 1981 he became the first Western rock artist to play concerts in China.
Jean-Michel is best known for his spectacular live shows. Name proposed by
G. V. Williams, who made the principal identification involving this object.
Read about how minor planets are named.
About (4422) Jarre
(4422) Jarre is in a 3.35-year elliptical orbit around the sun ranging in distance from 274.7 million km (at perihelion, closest point to the sun) to 394.8 million km (at aphelion, furthest point from the sun).The previous perihelion passage occurred on 2009 Sept. 3.7 UT.
The orbit is inclined by 4.8 degrees to the ecliptic plane (the plane of the earth's orbit about the sun).
There is little information on the physical properties of (4422) Jarre. Even its diameter is uncertain--a range of 8 to 18 km is probable.
You will need a telescope to see this minor planet as its maximum brightness is some 1/1028 of the brightness of the faintest objects that can be seen with the unaided eye.
The diagram below show the orbit of (4422) Jarre in relation to the major planets in the inner solar system.
This view of the inner solar system is seen from the north ecliptic pole. The sun is the yellow star at the center of the image. The blue orbits represent, in increasing distance from the center, the major planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. The position of each major planet at the date indicated at the bottom of the plot is shown by the large circled cross. The orbit of the minor planet is shown in red, with the location of the minor planet (at the date indicated at the bottom of the plot) shown as a white circled cross. From this vantage point the planets revolve around the sun in a counter clockwise direction. The vernal equinox is off to the right. The portion of the minor planet's orbit that is below the plane of the earth's orbit is shaded grey. The perihelion point of the minor planet's orbit is at the end of the white straight line through the sun indicated by "P".
Also available is information on provisional designations.
Where is (4422) Jarre tonight? Customisable ephemerides are available.
The official Jean-Michel Jarre website.
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